Brief Review: "And the Oscar Goes To..."

"And the Oscar Goes To..." is a documentary airing this month on TCM as a table setter for the channel's "31 Days of Oscar" celebration.  It's primarily a puff piece that bounces from topic to topic with a only a hint of a structure to it.  The narration by Anjelica Huston is scant, and the film is guided only slightly better by the talking heads, including stand-outs Benicio Del Toro, Phil Alden Robinson, and Jason Reitman.  

While the film only touches the surface on subjects that deserve longer exploration -- the Blacklist, racial injustice, an overall history of the award -- the segment on Oscar losers does stand out.  Ellen Burstyn explains how she felt about winning her Oscar and seeing Gena Rowlands in "A Woman Under the Influence," "That's an Academy Award winning part.  She should have won an award for that role.  Not my award, though."  

The film shows interesting clips from the past that many film lovers have probably never seen, and I'm thankful for that.  Still, the Academy Awards may be better served receiving the Ken Burns treatment instead of a mere 90 minute documentary.